Car dealers are being encouraged to leverage social media to connect with consumers in their PMA.  My observation is that car dealers have never been trained in online engagement skills so this frightens more dealers than those that put their toes in the water.

If I had a dollar for every time a dealer principal said “I just don’t get social media”, I would have my poker money for DD9.  I’ll need that extra cash to play at Gary May’s poker event at the 9th Digital Dealer Conference in Las Vegas.

At the recent 8th Digital Dealer Conference in Orlando, Alex Snyder from Checkered Flag Group in Virginia Beach commented on DealerRefresh that many vendors were pitching social media “widgets”. Here is what Alex had to say:

“I just got back from Digital Dealer 8 and almost every presentation was on Social Media.  Many vendors were preaching why dealers should be doing something in Social Media, but there weren’t many telling their clients how to do it right.  That’s mostly because many of these vendors don’t understand how Social Media truly works themselves.”

The majority of vendors were indeed offering some type of social media services, from dedicated vendors like GoSo to integrated packages from TKCarsites, which also announced their Power SEO package.

Car Dealer Social Networks

With that backdrop, let’s take a look at the resources for car dealers can use to learn about social media from industry leaders who practice what they preach.  The best car dealer social networks and automotive blogs that I frequent include:

• Driving Sales.com
• DealerRefresh.com
• AutomotiveDigitalMarketing.com
• KainAutomotiveIdeaExchange.ning.com

I also maintain two social communities that are going through their initial growth spurt which includes:

• InternetSalesManager.org
• Automotive SEO

The first four websites are examples of industry leaders leveraging social mediums to share with car dealers how to build skills, strategies and the most important point: to build trust.   Industry leaders Jared Hamilton, Ralph Paglia, Jeff Kershner, Alex Snyder and David Kain practice social media; they are not posers.

Car dealers should learn to engage within their industry before assuming their knowledge on how to deal with consumers.  These forums are filled with professionals that will offer advice and even coaching tips.  Car dealers who want to engage in social media for their business should become active in these automotive social networks as a first step.

Vendors Participation in Automotive Social Networks

How many automotive vendors selling into car dealers have brand ambassadors that actively engage in automotive social networking communities.  My definition of a brand ambassadors is a vendor employee that engages in the automotive social networks by offering advice, case studies, and honest engagement which is not designed to sell something today.

These brand ambassadors raise the bar in our industry for excellence and at the same time raise their social media trust quotient. Of course, brand ambassadors at times mix in some self promotion but that should be a small portion of their online messaging.

A few people that come to mind, that I haven’t already listed, that are active brand ambassadors online are:

• Gary May
• Larry Bruce
• Philip Zelinger
• Todd Smith
• Joe Webb
• “VJ” Volker Jaeckel
• JD Rucker
• Arnold Tijerina

If I had a room of people selling “shiny social media widgets”, I think I would narrow the list to those who practice what they preach.  This article is not to advise on any one social media vendor or strategy but to encourage dealers to engage with their peers first.

Car dealer social networks not only provide guidance on social media but everything under the sun so it’s time for car dealer employees, managers and owners to be active in these fine online “universities” that have no tuition fees.

By the way, has anyone heard of these brand new sites?

Tags: automotive social networks, car dealer forums, car dealer social networks